Government Rethinks Religious Rape, Sex Laws After TV Program Airs

July 11, 2006

Source: The Christian Science Monitor

http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/0711/p01s03-wosc.html

On July 11, 2006 The Christian Science Monitor reported, "More than 1,000 female prisoners are expected to be released this week on bail in Pakistan following a decision by President Pervez Musharraf to review a controversial set of laws affecting women. Many of the female inmates are awaiting trial for violations under the Hudood Ordinances, which stipulate harsh penalties for extramarital sex. The laws require a woman who claims that she was raped to produce four pious male witnesses. Otherwise, she stands to be charged with adultery - an offense that can carry a death sentence by stoning. The ordinances have also been used as a weapon against women who defy marriage choices made by their families. President Musharraf promised five years ago to amend the Hudood Ordinances, only to backtrack in the face of opposition from hard-line Islamic groups. However, a groundbreaking television series has taken the issue to a wider set of religious authorities. The overall verdict of this unprecedented public debate - that the laws are not rooted in the Koran - appears to be giving Musharraf the cover needed to consider changes. 'We have launched this campaign in accordance with our commitment to enlighten people about all those issues, which have remained a taboo, though they have strong bearings on common people,' says Azhar Abbas, the director of news at Geo television, which ran the series last month. 'We just want to make people know about the issue. We just want to place the issue in the right context regardless to the outcomes of the debate.'"